Tales of the Nothlands
by darkmickyangel
Summary: Dagur and the Skrill leave their home behind, and join Hiccup and Co. on their journey south. Their goal is the far country of Shi Huang-Ti. On their way they will meet many people. Some friends, some enemies. The darkest of which, Hiccup fears, might just be himself. Third part in the Epic: Of Dragons and Leviathans.


**A/N: I do not own HTTYD or any of the characters from the series.**

**Don't have an editor so let me know if you catch anything.**

**Reviews appreciated.**

**Hey everyone! So. If you know what you're getting into, feel free to skip this intro and continue reading. For those of you who are scratching your heads, I hope you're reading this. This is the THIRD PART of an epic. A series of stories. The first is under my name, **Tales of Berk **is the story you're looking for. the second one is entitled **Tales of the Berserker Isles**, also under my name. Without those two stories you'll be in the dark, and have a lot of questions to be asking yourself. I can't exactly tell you what to do. I don't know you, I don't know your life. I'm just suggesting you read those two stories first. Welcome to the story either way, and let me know what you think! Cheers!**

The dragons and their two riders soared high above the ocean, the sun beating down on them doing little to warm them up. The air was chilled from the arrival of winter, and the cold wind stung Hiccup's face as they made their way southward. Winter was digging its claws in, promising for a hard freeze. But it wasn't the cold that bothered Hiccup as they flew. Something hung heavy in the air, something heavier than the ice in the air, and it made Hiccup's mind buzz worry.

It's really cold, are you two going to be okay? Toothless asked.

"I'll be fine, I've survived colder" Hiccup said, patting the dragon on the side, "How about you?" he asked, turning to look over at Dagur and Spitfire.

Dagur merely glared over at him, as if offended Hiccup had even asked. He was laid back in his saddle, fiddling with something in his hands to keep his mind from wandering. The flight continued in relative silence, Stormfly humming cheerily as they traveled.

They could just see the small island on the horizon, when the wind changed direction, and smell hit them.

"Ugh, what is that?" Dagur sat up in his saddle, covering his face.

Hiccup did the same, trying not to gag at the smell of something rotten, with the mixed nausea of the others.

Sea Serpent! Meatlug hissed, Get up! She started to gain altitude, the others followed quickly, rising up even higher.

From this height they could see the long, dark figure moving under the waves, serpentine in its movement. Sharks followed in its wake, their fins skimming the water's edge.

"That's an ominous sign," Dagur commented, as they hovered, "Thor, it's as long as a two ships, at the least"

What do we do Hiccup? Spike asked nervously.

"We'll just have to stay high" Hiccup said, "Pass it up,"

It looks like it's headed straight for the island, Meatlug pointed out, and indeed the serpent was moving rather fast, straight toward the small island.

You think it's going to attack the village? Spitfire asked, tilting her head.

"Impossible, I've never heard of a sea serpent doing such a thing- they only attack ships" Hiccup said, feeling that bad feeling roll up in his stomach again, "It'll turn" he said hopefully.

"Are you willing to bet people's lives on that?" Dagur asked bitterly, stuffing his project into his bag and checking his weapons.

If we hurry we can warn the people before it makes it there. Toothless suggested.

"Then let's hurry up," Hiccup decided gritting his teeth, "The rest of you guys stay up, me and Dagur will talk to the villagers, I'm getting a bad feeling about this, something's not right"

He kicked up the tail fin, and Toothless broke out of his glide to gain speed, easily passing up the group. Spitfire did the same, following close behind him. They picked up speed, dipping down below a cloud. Hiccup looked down at the ominous figure in the water as they passed it, then looked forward to the island growing on the horizon. The Sun Pool was a small island, with sea stacks surrounding it much like rays of the sun. The main island wasn't very large, its main feature was a large, rock dome, with the top caved in. this was where the shrine was located. There were ships at a small dock, and a small village, but that was it.

They easily passed up the sea serpent, which moved slowly though the water in comparison to the fast dragons. The island grew quickly on the horizon, and the four of them were upon it within minutes.

We don't have time to do this slowly, Toothless said warily, as they slowed down with a quick circle around the island. The longer we wait the less time we can prepare.

"I know." Hiccup said, letting go with one hand and hanging over the side of the dragon, looking down at the village below.

"I've never heard of a Sea Serpent this far inland," Dagur said, as Spitfire glided beneath them "You're right, something smells bad here."

There has always been bad blood between Dragons and Sea Serpents, Toothless said warily, They hunt down Queens and their followers with a vengeance. If that serpent finds out that Hiccup is a Queen- we're in for a fight. But I don't know why it would be attacking a human settlement.

We could take it down, easy, Spitfire assured, Lightning travels through water easier than air. My mother told me stories of how they and the Berserker men would take them down- If we have to fight anyway. The purple dragon added, and Hiccup could feel a small trickle of sadness at the memory of her lost people.

"I get the feeling we're not going to be able to avoid this." Hiccup admitted, "If the sea serpent attacks the town we're not going to be able to go to the Temple- and I'm not just going to sit by-"

"DRAGONS" The shout came down from the island below, and an alarm went off. The people on the island started running around, herding sheep into protective areas, and picKing up arms.

"Shit!" Hiccup called down to the village, as Toothless dodged a small rock shot by a trebuchet, "We're not your enemy!" The humans below him didn't hear him however, and continued to reload the machine. Hiccup took a deep breath, and indicated where Toothless to land. The Dagur followed him, and they dropped on top of the roofs of the villages, landing solidly. Hiccup couldn't blame the ViKings for their terrified faces, a Nightfury and Skrill weren't dragons to take lightly. Not to mention there were people ridding them.

"Hault!" Dagur bellowed, and everyone froze, gapping at the sight of two people ridding dragons. Dagur made a motion for Hiccup to speak, and Toothless ambled between the other dragon and the crowd below so they could see Hiccup.

"We aren't here to attack anyone or anything," Hiccup said, doing his best to project, "We came to warn you, there is a sea serpent headed this way."

"It's true," Dagur said, stepping out of Spitfire's saddle, and by the reaction of the crowd Hiccup could tell that some from some of the whispers that people recognized him, "We saw it from above, and you can smell it in the air if you don't trust us. We think it means to attack the village. You must all evacuate inland at once."

"Sea serpent?" A man wielding an ax blinked, then turned to a younger man in the crowd, "You don't think-"

"That bastard!" Another man shouted and turned around, but a woman stopped him, "Let me go! That worm brought this down on us! I'll make sure he goes to Helheim before any of us die! I'll scourer the whole island if I have too!"

"What?" Hiccup asked confused, as the men continued to fight.

"A few days ago we learned that one of our younger members of the village has been participating in… darker practices." An old man with a staff, grasping an amulet around his neck and looked up to the sky, "It would appear that Loki has decided to head his curse, and has sent one of his devils to destroy us all. Odin Help us."

"That devil has cursed us all!" a shout came from the crowd, "This is all his fault!" "Burn him!"

The shouts started to build up, and Hiccup felt his gut drop, "Wait- wait! You all need to focus on the serpent right now, not about who caused what." He shouted, holding up his hands, "I don't know what's been going on here, but think. A serpent is coming, you need to ready the battlements, and get the non-combatants to safety."

"You do have some time, but not much." Dagur agreed, stepping forward, "Maybe a few hours at the most."

The crowd seemed to calm down at this, and look at each other warily, talking among themselves what they should do.

"Young masters," a man said, stepping forward and bowing, "We must look to you in this time of need."

"W-what?" Hiccup blinked, leaning back.

"Surely the gods have sent you hear, to help us," The man said, rising up, "To warn us of the danger and protect us."

Dagur snorted, but hid it with a cough, and Hiccup felt amusement from him and the dragons. Hiccup stared at the man stupidly for a full thirty seconds, "I highly doubt they sent me," Hiccup finally spoke, not knowing what else to say, "But if you say you need my help, then I will be there. Get all the non-combatants to the temple, I need the person in charge of your soldiers here now."

The village broke into motion, and people started to disperse, shouts ringing through the village. They herded sheep and cattle up hill, some people carrying jars of preserves.

"Spitfire, will your lightning kill the beast outright?" Hiccup sighed, running his hands through his hair.

Not outright. But I do know how to kill one. The eyes are its weak point, Spitfire said, We need to go for the eyes.

"That means we'll have to drive it out of the water," Dagur said, squinting out over the water, "Me and Spitfire can do that, push it up against the shore. Then you and the other dragons can go for the eyes" Dagur placed a hand on his sword handle as a gruff man, tall with a braided beard came over the edge of the roof with a leap,

"Leave some for the rest of us, you two can't have all the fun." The man said gruffly, "I'm Alden, I'm in charge of the troops. Glad to see the gods still favor us."

"We weren't-"

"Of course." Dagur cut in, a giant grin on his face, placing a hand on each of Hiccup's shoulders, "Night's Dragon Queen is always happy to help!" Toothless started to laugh and Hiccup went red with embarrassment. Spitfire rolled her eyes. Dagur continued, "So let's get to work. Defenses. What do you have?"

"Nothing to strong," Alden said, either oblivious to Hiccup's embarrassment or doing a good job of ignoring it, "We have a few smaller catapults to sink ships, most of what we have are hand weapons."

"Do you have crossbows?" Dagur asked, "You can line up on the ridge, shoot from a far."

"That would do more harm to the dragons, than anything else. If you do that make sure we are out of range, Alden." Hiccup said bitterly, then had an idea, "Pikes" Hiccup said, turning to the man, "We need pikes, as many as you can get on the beach. Make sure they are anchored well in the ground, enough to stand up to some waves." he pointed, "Then explosives, do you have any materials?"

"This is a temple, not an armory," the older, cloaked man scoffed from the road, and Hiccup realized that they had a small crowd below them. Some of them staring up at him in awe.

"We don't have any," Alden sent the older man a glare, he turned to a group of men on the road, relaying orders "Get the archers up on the ridge, and have the rest start putting pikes on the beach! Get the non-combatants to the temple!" he ordered, then turned back to Hiccup, "Anything else we can do?"

Hiccup looked down once more at the soon to be battle field, an idea struck him, and he turned to the man "How are your grain stores?"


End file.
